The brutal murder of a young teenage girl whose father rejected a cousin’s
marriage proposal on her behalf is the latest outrage to prompt fears that
modest gains in women’s rights in Afghanistan are being reversed.

The girl, named locally as Gaseena, was attacked as she fetched water from a
river in her village in the northern province of Kunduz, according to local
police. Her hands and feet were broken and her throat was slit.

Gaseena’s brother was said to have identified the killer running away from the
scene of the murder on Monday in the district of Imam Sahib.